When virtues become liabilities
by Randomly writing
Summary: After Dorothy left the gifts The Scarecrow, The Lion, and The Tin Woodman received began to cause problems. With Oz revolting against them, how will The Tin Woodman and Scarecrow handle The Lion becoming their enemy in the name of 'bravery?


Ever since Dorothy left Oz things had spiralled out of control quickly for the three friends she left behind. At first everything was great, The Scarecrow took over as the King and ruled with a democratic kindness that reflected the land, The Tin Woodman controlled the Winkie army with a reassuring and encouraging nature that kept spirits alive, and the now-not-so-Cowardly Lion accepted his rightful role as king of the beasts and kept all the creatures from fighting. Everything was going so well, until they began to struggle with their newfound abilities and virtues.

The Lion was finding it difficult to keep all the beasts at bay, though the Lion was now very brave it often led him into unfortunate situations in which he would continuously fight anyone who defied him. It got to the point where the animals would revolt against his authority, finding strength in numbers. The Lion attempted to seek help from his two other friends but tended to block them out when their honest critiques would become mistranslating as a lack of respect for his new role.

The Tin Woodman was also struggling to contain different emotions. True, he did have emotions when he did not have a heart but the sheer knowledge of his new 'heart' was allowing him to explore a range of complex emotions all at once. This meant that when he was training the army he would lose a lot of respect as he found himself over empathising too much to actually do something productive. His overpowering emotions often left him confused as he tried to work them out, these emotions made only more confusing as everything around him begins to decline.

And The Scarecrow. The Scarecrow was under immense pressure after being crowned king. With his newfound knowledge he attempted to broaden his understanding of things, for fear of being branded an empty stack of hay like he had before. He was continuously taking in new information while trying to run a kingdom and keep an eye on the declining efforts of his friends. The citizens were causing a commotion in response to his apparent lack of control. The pressure only made him work harder to fill up his brain, but this led to him having more ideas than he knew how to catalogue let alone put into action.

Of course each of these issues then began to bleed into each other and the three began to notice control slipping with no way of knowing how to fix it. The three met regularly to discuss everything, but lately their meetings were filled with fights and disagreements. The stress each of them had bled into their insecurities that they had thought had been solved but evidently hadn't. And then these insecurities became guarded and started lashing out, making each one of them defensive and angry. Their friendships were hanging on a thread and each one was internally terrified that the other may eventually just give up and walk away. Despite their fights, none of them wanted their friendship to end.

"This better be good," The Lion growled in irritation as he pushed through the double doors leading into the throne room in the Emerald palace. The two guards jumped in fright and hurried out the doors before they fell closed again. "I was just about to teach a cheetah a lesson." The Tin Woodman looked over from where he stood just a few feet away. He looked concerned and sheepish before directing his head back towards the man of straw that sat, head in his hand, at the throne.

"Scarecrow?" The Tin Woodman asked tentatively. "Perhaps you should take a break." He said as he slowly moved a large book away from the throne.

"We can't afford to." The Scarecrow replied, finally rising his head and observing the two. "And honestly, Lion, you cannot keep fighting the animals in your forests. They are your people, not your enemies." The Lion gave an unintelligible growl.

"I don't tell you how to do your job!" Was the fearless retort.

"I wish someone would," The Scarecrow replied with a sigh. "This is all too much for one noggin to take in, I say maybe there is a reason I was made with straw."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Said the Tin Woodman. "I'm sure if we put our heads together we can work something out."

"Because your heads are detachable?" The Lion tried to joke. The Scarecrow sighed and shook his head while the Tin Woodman looked offended.

"I beg your pardon?" He replied, voice rising in disbelief.

"Calm down, Rusty," The Lion raised his claws in defence. "It's a joke."

"Oh, like the crown you wear fashioned out of vines and leaves?" He replied, tilting his tin head up a little higher.

"Enough, you two!" The Scarecrow ordered. "We have been at each other's throats far too much, what would Dorothy say?"

"Dorothy's gone," The Lion said, now sounding mournful as he sat on the floor. "You have to let it go." It was hard for them all to say goodbye to Dorothy, she had changed their lives. If not for Dorothy The Scarecrow would still be stuck on that post in the middle of the corn field, if not for Dorothy the Tin Woodman would still remain trapped in rust, and if not for Dorothy the Lion would still be shaking with fear in the shadows. The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence as the three friends recalled how different their lives had been just a months ago.

"If we do not figure something out we will have an uprising on our hands." The Tin Woodman said, tapping his axe against the side of the throne to gather attention.

"I'll tear them apart." The Lion said calmly with a shrug. The Tin Woodman and Scarecrow exchanged worried expressions. The Lion's view of violence had changed along with his new found courage and it concerned them. They had reprimanded him on more than one occasion but he was beginning to intimidate even them. The Scarecrow had received complaints from 90% of the animal population over the Lion's unfair and unjustified actions, and he couldn't just ignore them. The Tin Woodman looked at his straw friend and nodded, silently urging him to speak up.

"Lion," The Scarecrow began, getting his friend's attention. "I've received numerous complaints about your, let's say, reign over the animals. If you cannot reduce the amount of violence you inflict then I will have no choice but to-"

"To what?" The Lion cut in, expression darkening as soon as he got over the initial shock. The Scarecrow gulped and shuffled a bit before finding his footing once again.

"To revoke your rights, momentarily, as the king of the beasts." The Lion looked shocked and was silent for a long time before he spoke again.

"You have no right."

"I do," He said as he walked to him, tugging a piece of paper out from his stuffed shirt. "It states here that _'any monarch outside the Emerald City that is treating his or her people with less than democratic means must be met with temporary withdrawal as ordered by the current ruler of Oz.'_ " The Lion read what was written and stared up at him.

"But I'm your friend." He said, sounding a lot more like the old him.

"You are," The Scarecrow said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just trying to help you, I don't want to do this but it's my duty and it'll be good for you." The Lion suddenly gripped his friend's straw wrist and held it in place. The Scarecrow, who could feel no pain, at least looked alarmed.

"You may be the king, but I'll always remember you as the way you really are," He said, glaring straight into his eyes. "You are a brainless sack of hay." He yanked back and pulled his friend's hand with him. Though this caused no pain the Scarecrow let out a gasp. The Tin Woodman instantly was between them.

"Lion, please, this isn't like you," He said hastily. "You're being irrational."

"I'm being _brave_ for once in my life, and you're trying to bring me down!" He roared, throwing the straw hand down. The Tin Woodman shook his head.

"Bravery does not mean hurting others or making them fear you," He said. "It's about being able to face something difficult, something that may scare you, this is too much and you know this isn't how you act." It was useless, the Lion was already done listening and out of the door without another word. The Tin Woodman picked up his friend's hand and helped him reattach it.

The Lion had committed a crime, he had been violent to the king and ended a friendship. The Scarecrow had many options other than revoking the Lion's rights as a ruler of the animals. The main thing is he could have him arrested, he could have him in shackles before he even left the city.

But he didn't.

 **AN: A tad short, I know, but I wanted to get this idea out first. It's rather late here so apologies for any mistakes, I will be giving this story a full grammar and spelling check tomorrow once I am awake enough to not miss anything, so please be patient.**

 **If you happen to be a reader of my story 'Prejudice Pigs' the delay is due to an existing chapter on my laptop being lost and also a little bit of writers block. I'm working on it but with the standard I have set for that story I don't want to put out any sub-par work.**

 **Thank you and please review!**


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